Boy, that was about as ugly as it gets.
After all the offseason hype and anticipation, the wheels fell off the bandwagon rather quickly for the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh fell 30-7 to the San Francisco 49ers, putting a bit of a dampened mood on the 2023 season already.
Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett looked rather rough, the rebuilt offensive line got punched in the mouth over and over again by San Francisco’s front, the defensive line had a tough time after Cameron Heyward left with a groin injury, and the secondary had no answer for San Francisco’s passing game, losing the season opener in ugly fashion.
Let’s get to some grades here.
QB — F
A very, very ugly day for Pickett coming out of a perfect (literally) preseason.
The promising second-year signal caller came out and was completely flat against the 49ers, throwing an early pick on an ill-advised pass with Diontae Johnson falling down. He then was woeful with his accuracy all game long. He missed far too many layups over the middle. He was behind on a bunch of throws or too far out in front. Then, later in the game he was forcing throws and there an ill-advised pass up the seam intended for Connor Heyward that Fred Warner broke up, leading to an interception.
Outside of the two picks, the touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth late in the first half was a howitzer in the red zone. It was his best throw of the day, beating tight coverage.
A real mess though for Pickett. He has to bounce back in a hurry in Week Two.
RB — D
Outside of the impressive 24-yard run in the first quarter and the added 15-yard roughness penalty at the end of the run, Najee Harris was very rarely used as the Steelers found themselves in a massive hole.
Harris carried the football six times for 31 yards and added two catches for two yards. He had a nice blitz pickup in the first half that allowed a completion from Pickett to Johnson, but he was rarely used as the Steelers got into a hole early and couldn’t play their style.
Jaylen Warren carried the ball just three times for six yards and added five catches for 12 yards. He didn’t do anything all that impressive and didn’t create anything with the football in his hands.
Anthony McFarland Jr. looked good in very limited action, hauling in two passes for 11 yards, moving the chains on both catches.
WR — C
The passing game was largely a mess throughout the day, but it wasn’t on the receivers overall.
Prior to leaving with a hamstring injury that looks rather serious, Johnson was creating a ton of separation on the day, but Pickett was unable to hit him over the middle twice. He started to get into rhythm late in the first half and then had a big 26-yard gain in the third quarter before exiting with the hamstring injury. On the day, Johnson finished with three catches for 48 yards. Hopefully his injury isn’t too serious.
George Pickens let his emotions get the better of him on the day. After a 6-yard catch to open the game, Pickens had just four catches for 30 yards, finishing with five catches for 36 yards in the lopsided loss. He had a bad taunting penalty and then left the locker room without comment after the loss. He was seen on the bench sitting by himself, too. Not a great start.
Veteran Allen Robinson II had a nice debut for the Steelers, leading Pittsburgh with five receptions for 64 yards, including a nice 31-yard gain. Pickett looked for him early and often. He’s going to be a key piece for Pittsburgh moving forward.
Second-year pro Calvin Austin III had six catches for 37 yards in the loss. He caught a handful of bubble screens and a jet sweep but wasn’t really able to find space like he did during the preseason.
TE — B-
Nice day overall for the tight ends.
Pat Freiermuth caught a touchdown pass, but he then exited the game with a chest injury, which is something to monitor. He took a big shot on a ball over the middle from Pickett that fell incomplete. Clean hit from San Francisco, too. Tough area to play.
Rookie Darnell Washington was as advertised as a blocker, planting Nick Bosa on one run rep. He wasn’t targeted at all in the passing game, but he was a good additional offensive lineman in the game, helping out on Drake Jackson and Bosa throughout the game.
Connor Heyward had a couple of nice plays in the loss, including a strong 11-yard catch away from his body in traffic. He tried to draw a defensive holding call on Dre Greenlaw, too, but didn’t earn the flag. He was the target on Pickett’s second pick with Warner running step for step with him up the seam.
OL — D
Really, really rough day for a group that really looked good in the preseason.
The offensive line allowed five sacks on the day, though a couple were on Pickett for holding onto the football and trying to make a play. The unit allowed nine hits total on 51 drop backs.
Overall, I thought that Dan Moore Jr. held up reasonably well against Bosa, though he was given help at times. He did allow a sack on his first rep at right tackle after Chukwuma Okorafor left the game to enter into concussion protocol. Broderick Jones made his NFL debut and had some decent snaps late in the loss.
The interior players on the offensive line had a rough game. They didn’t generate much in the run game and in pass protection allowed the pocket to get pushed into Pickett far too often.
We’ll see what the All-22 shows later this week.
DL — D-
After Cameron Heyward left the game with a groin injury, that was about it for the defensive line. That’s a real concern.
Isaiahh Loudermilk got pushed all over the place against the run and was shoved out of the way on Christian McCaffrey’s big run to open the second half. He’s a real liability against the run.
DeMarvin Leal battled through an arm injury and had three tackles and a tackle for loss. He flashed some strong hands on the interior at times and was around the football quite a bit.
Larry Ogunjobi had just two tackles in limited action and was on and off the field while trying to work back from the foot injury. Rookie Keeanu Benton had three stops in the loss, including a big hit on McCaffrey, while Montravius Adams got a lot of run with Heyward hurt. He just couldn’t get off blocks though. Story of the game for the Steelers defensive line.
LB — C+
T.J. Watt was T.J. Watt again, recording three sacks in the loss, tying the franchise record for sacks with James Harrison. He was a force throughout the game and wore right tackle Colton McKivitz like a hat. It wasn’t enough in the end though.
Alex Highsmith was solid opposite him as well, finishing with seven tackles and a tackle for loss, splitting a double team for the TFL. He had a tough matchup against Trent Williams though and didn’t generate much pressure. Veteran Markus Golden had three tackles in his Steelers debut and looked solid on the edge. Rookie Nick Herbig saw playing time and generated a pressure on one of Watt’s sacks.
Inside, Elandon Roberts played really well against the run, finishing with seven tackles and two tackles for loss Sunday. He played with great physicality and intensity right from the jump and tried to drag the rest of the defense with him, to no avail.
Kwon Alexander got a lot of run, too, and finished with nine tackles. He struggled against the run some though, which was a bit concerning.
Cole Holcomb had a tough day. He had five tackles but was picked on in coverage and really struggled to get off blocks in the run game. Dropping deep middle zone and trying to run with Deebo Samuel is never a good idea, yet the Steelers asked him to do that. Unsurprisingly, he lost the rep.
DB — D-
Outside of two pass breakups, Patrick Peterson had a day to forget in his Steelers debut. He was beat twice by Brandon Aiyuk for touchdowns, one of which he slipped on. It was a rough look for the veteran cornerback after guaranteeing an interception on his podcast. Let’s not do that again this week.
The secondary truly had no answers for Aiyuk in the passing game. He finished with eight catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns, cooking every defensive back the Steelers threw at him.
Levi Wallace had a disastrous missed tackle on McCaffrey’s 65-yard touchdown run and also had a bad personal foul penalty that helped set up another San Francisco score. Safety Damontae Kazee struggled in coverage, too, and Minkah Fitzpatrick missed a sack on Purdy, which helped extend a 49ers drive, leading to a score.
Keanu Neal was quietly around the football a lot, finishing with five tackles. Joey Porter Jr. had one tackle in his NFL debut and was on the field in sub-package situations at times.
Special Teams — D+
Outside of Anthony McFarland Jr.’s surprising success on kickoff returns, the Steelers were a mess on special teams.
McFarland averaged 30.3 yards per kick return in the loss with a long of 34. Bright spot there.
Pressley Harvin III was a mess again in the regular-season opener. He had punts of 36 and 28 yards. Though he finished with a respectable 42.7 yards per punt with a long of 57, dropping one inside the 20-yard line, the inconsistencies were on full display again.
Penalties were an issue, too. Roberts had a false start on a punt, Peterson jumped offsides on a field goal attempt, and Christian Kuntz had a facemask penalty on another punt. Ugly day for Danny Smith’s unit.
